Strange Kind of Love
by Foxs92
Summary: Nobody in their right mind would call him affectionate, but she thinks maybe that's because he's never been shown true affection before. Violet just wants to show Daryl Dixon how truly amazing he really is. It might take him awhile to realize, but hey. They have all the time in the world. DarylxOC


Okay – so this story will be a DarylxOC pairing – please let me know if you think my OC Violet becomes too "Mary-sue" (is that still a thing?). Also I'm starting this off with when the group runs into the convicts at the prison – though Hershells leg will be fine. And I'm not going to include Woodbury in my story – not that its not a great story line but I just don't think I would be able to do it enough justice. Thanks, please review or fave if you enjoy.

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Daryl held his crossbow up at the sound of scuffling in the next room, the whole group tensing. They'd just cleared out what had seemed like half of the prisons walker population with a lot of close calls. Covered in blood and gore they looked through the cage to what seemed to be some kind of cafeteria. Rick moved silently beside Daryl, both men acknowledging each others presence. Daryl hadn't been able to forget what Rick had done for him, and everyone else, over the last year. Rick had done right by him and that's all that mattered. A scream pierced the air and the group silently panicked, checking around them before realising it was coming from behind the bars. T-dog crept up to the door with the chain, and snipped it open with Daryl rushing forward with his cross bow.

Rick and the rest glared at the back of his head – what the fuck happened to formation – but followed behind anyway. Daryl had rushed in first because he knew that kind of scream. He'd heard it plenty of times before the end of the world had even happened.

Growing up with a drunk dad, drugged up older brother and dead mama hadn't exactly left him clueless about the darker aspects of human nature. There were times he'd come home as a young boy to those screams in his daddys room and a lot of banging around. While his brain wanted him to knock knowing something bad was happening, his body would rather quickly remind him of the lingering pain of the last beating he received. Daryl never knocked. But hours later he would see a woman stumbling down their driveway dirty, bloody and often looking somehow… _broken. _It wasn't long before Merle started following in his Daddy's footsteps.

Oh Merle hated that man with a passion – but he could respect a few things about him. One of those things was the women. When women recoiled at the very name Dixon, how else were you supposed to satisfy yourself? In such a small town there was nothing anyone could do, fuck the police station only had 2 men in there and half the time they were the ones in the wrong. Daryl had always promised himself that's not how he would treat women, he would never force anyone to do anything they didn't want.

Not to say he's never been with the ladies – his arms often open doors his name can't – but he's always respected the word "no".

As Daryl rushed ahead of the other men he could see he was right. Some gangly mother fucker with black pubes for hair held a girl in the air by her throat as he wore a rapists grin. Daryl certainly knew what that looked like.

Rick came up behind him, with Glenn and T-dog beside him. "Put her down." Said Rick, the cocking of a shotgun barrel echoing into the room. Daryl mentally made a head count – there was the rapist as well as 3 black guys and a skinny looking white guy. His eyes narrowed as he noticed they were all in convicts uniform.

The rapist fuck turned to look at them and shrugged, dropping the girl on her ass as he smiled sadistically at them. "Hey man, no need for the guns. All I was doin' was havin' a little fun here." His hands were raised but it seemed to mock the group, and Daryl's finger itched on his crossbow. "Didn't look like fucking fun to me" He spat, eyes narrowed at the stupid motherfucker.

The white convict stepped out slowly, "Hey hey guys listen – can we just talk for a sec here? No need to put guns in anyone's faces. I'm axel, these 3 are Oscar, Big Tiny and Andrew. And ya'll have already met Tomas." Daryl's eyes didn't move from Tomas – he couldn't fucking care less about everybody knowing each others names. "Get in the fucking corner, mother fucker." He motioned at Tomas to join the convicts with his crossbow, glaring at him the whole time.

Tomas listened – but didn't wipe that creepy ass smile off his face – and moved to join the others. Daryl motioned to Rick about the girl and he nodded, giving Daryl permission to go over to her. He walked swiftly over to her, crouching on the ground next to her. "Hey, you okay? If you come with us we can get you some basic medical care if you need it. We won't hurt you." He hated how soft he sounded, fucking womenfolk, but he knew being his regular brash would only scare her. She had plenty of time to get used to his attitude.

She was huddled together on the floor but jumped at the sound of his voice."I'm with you guys!" She whispered after her eyes had flicked from the convicts to his group. His body filled with rage as he noticed her voice sounding… _strangled_, for lack of a better word, but he stifled it and helped her limp over to where Rick was standing. Daryl instantly noticed the tension between Rick and Tomas. "Look the way I see it is we can kill ya'll now, or you can kill us later. I mean you are in prison." Ricks voice was soft but cold and Daryl felt more than saw the girl shrink into him, gripping his shirt.

"This is our fucking prison man, why the fuck do we have to leave?" T-dog glared at Tomas, "We don't share with convicts man. Rapists neither." The girl started to shake at the words rapist, and Daryl had had enough of the fucking guy as well. "Ya'll can leave, or die. That's the choice." Ricks voice was cold and strong and Tomas's mouth twisted in displeasure. "Well maybe you oughta rethink that decision, yeah?" Daryl saw his hand move to a bulge in his pocket and brought his crossbow up to fire but Rick got there first. At least Daryl got to shoot one of the black kids – nothin' racist but he had rushed out at us after Rick had coated him in Tomas's brains.

"Man I'm sick of this – can we just end them and fucking leave? We have shit to get back to." Daryl begged, eyeing off the 3 remaining convicts.

"Naw man we aint like that – I promise! We aint like them, we could be assets to your team! We have food, we can share!" Cried Axel, desperate not to be left alone again. The team perked up at the idea of food and axel latched onto the idea, "Yeah yeah we got tons here! If you let us in we can share it all!"

The group silently assessed the 3 remaining convicts. They huddled together for a group conversation.

"What do ya'll think? Should we take him up on his offer?" Whispered Rick, one eye on the strange men. "Fuck that man, kill them and we wo't have to sleep with one open and our stomachs empty. They're criminals for fucks sake!" Argued Daryl, but Glenn shook his head.

"These guys seem harmless enough, what if we split the food and just gave them a different cell block? We have our own with lockable doors, pretty safe if you ask me." The group agreed and told the prisoners what was happening. They didn't seem happy but didn't argue which they were grateful for. As Rick set forth for the supplies Daryl pulled him aside, the girl still gripping his shirt. "Hey man I might take her back to the group if that's okay? She seems pretty freaked out, might need medical attention. Herschel will want to look her over." Rick nodded gently, letting him know he could handle it from here onwards. Daryl grabbed hold of the girls arm, not unkindly, and started to walk her back to the group.

"So how many are there of you?" She asked roughly, coughing a bit through her words. Daryl felt anger pool in his stomach as he glanced over to her and took in the dark purple hand imprints around her neck. He might be a dumb redneck but he'd be fucked if he wasn't some kind of gentleman. He grinned to himself as he remembered Rick shooting that motherfucker. It was soothing.

"Roughly about 10, I think. Our numbers got cut way down before we found this place. What about you? How'd you end up here?" Daryl asked thinking it would probably be best to know if she was a psycho bitch before he introduced everyone.

"Oh wow, that's amazing." She replied awed, "My group was only the 3 of us. Bec got bitten and didn't tell us, and then in the middle of the night she got Alana. I managed to put them both down. Better than knowing they're out there eating some little girl, right?" Daryl nodded, knowing exactly how she felt. He was pretty impressed she'd had the guts to kill her own friends, but he knew after they turned they weren't themselves anymore. "Anyway after that I found this place. Thought maybe some group might have turned it into a safe haven – or it would at least have food. But then I ran into those guys. The Tomas one creeped me out right away but after days of not eating I wasn't as quick as I normally am. The rest you know. Thank god you guys came in." Her chocolate eyes shone up at him thankfully and he quickly looked away. Girls with eyes like that are too distracting in a world like this. But he nodded gruffly at her and she seemed content with that.

The rest of the walk was quiet but not uncomfortable. He was glad, Daryl hated how some people feel the need to chatter incessantly. The quiet was nice he decided. It took a bit longer to get back with her limp, but before long he had people gathered around asking for information.

"Alright alright people, calm the fuck down. Rick and the others found food which they're bringing back now." They all broke into smiles at that news, but still eyed the girl warily. "We also found a group of convicts but they have been taken care of. With them was-" Daryl stopped and turned to the girl realising he hadn't even asked her name. "Violet." She smiled, "My name is Violet. And your men saved me back there, I don't even want to know what would have happened if I had been left with those other men." She rubbed her neck tenderly and Daryl thinks she knows exactly what would have happened. Judging by the looks her neck is getting from the others they know too.

"Are you hurt Violet? Come sit down so I can look you over." Said Herschel, interrupting the bucket load of questions the group seemed intent on asking and bringing her to one of the bunks. Daryl followed silently, using this chance to one over the girl. She was medium height, shorter than Lori but taller than Beth. She had brown eyes and brown hair tied back into a rough ponytail. Looking painfully thin in a pair of modest excersize shorts and a singlet top with ratty sneakers on. Nothing special, but he still felt the need to stay for Herschels examination. He figured it out half way through when Violet winced with a particularly painful cut and Daryl fought the urge to intervene. He felt protective of her, after seeing her with fuck face back in the cafeteria and remembering all the painful memories of his own fucked up family, he didn't want her to get hurt. Daryl decided not to look too much into it and settled on the fact that it would make him feel better about how fucked up his family was. He couldn't help the others, but he could help this one.

"Daryl? Would you mind helping Violet set up a bunk for herself. She needs the rest." Asked Herschel and he nodded, motioning for the girl to follow. He took her to one upstairs and grabbed her some blankets. She thanked him as she settled down into the sorry excuse for a bed and seemed to pass out instantly. Daryl snorted in amusement and shut the cell door as he left.

Downstairs the men had arrived back with food, and Axel and Oscar. He narrowed his eyes at them as he walked over but Rick shook his head at him. "We lost one of the other convicts on the way, and almost lost Glenn as well. It won't hurt to have more men around here and we can just keep an eye on them. Okay?" Rick asked but Daryl knew his opinion wouldn't be welcome. And besides Rick's logic was pretty strong. Daryl explained about Violet upstairs and they decided it was time to call a team meeting. The convicts stayed in one of the cells as the rest gathered in another room. Rick was nothing if not fair, Daryl mused.

"Okay let me get this sorted," Rick started."We now have a good supply of food and water and even running showers. This is the safest we have been since this whole mess started, and not even a few strangers are gonna screw that up." The group nodded understandingly, but still interested in the new parties. "Daryl, Herschel, what can you tell us about the girl?"

"She was only a group of 3 before she came here, thought this might have been some kind of safe haven or something. One of her friends got bit but kept it a secret, and ended up killing the other one. Violet took both of them out."

They all looked impressed, with Carol even managing a sad "Aaw." Herschel spoke next, "Her injuries are all pretty minor. The cut on her leg was pretty bad but with some bandages and a few good nights sleep she'll be bruises on her neck will take a few days to heal, along with some others she has one her. She is pretty malnourished though, doesn't look like she's eaten for at least a few days. Told me she came from Macon and was here on a trip with her friends when this whole thing started." Lori piped up behind him, "So are they staying or leaving? The girl I wouldn't mind, but the men make me a little uneasy." She rubbed her large stomach protectively and the girls all nodded agreeably.

"I know they do and I'm sorry, but our numbers are dwindling and if we hope to survive in this world we need to keep up a good number of people. I'm not saying they are completely trustworthy and if anyone see's them acting even a little threatening you are able to shoot. Understand?" They all nodded and started to disperse, Daryl heading to his makeshift bed up in the watch tower.

This whole day had been pretty fucked up and all he wanted was some shut eye. As he collapsed into bed he forced himself to not think about big chocolate eyes and a thankful smile.

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First chapter done! Hope everyone likes, let me know how you feel :)


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